Dead Week....REALLY?

It is not December. It is not December. It is not December! I wonder if I keep telling myself that I will wake up and it will be August. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday I sat down at my computer and wrote my very first blog. I was so nervous. I had never written a blog before and I was scared to have other people read my thoughts and comment back on them. As the weeks went quickly by, I soon found myself very comfortable blogging. As soon as I finished one blog, I was thinking about what I would write about for the next one. I loved blogging about technology, but I found myself wanting to blog about what was going on in the world or my life. I really liked sharing my thoughts for others to read. I've thought about setting up another blog. I think it would be a great way to keep in touch with my family members or friends who do not live close by. I have really come to like blogging and look forward to using it in my classroom. I look forward to seeing my future students' reactions to blogging.

I feel as though I have learned so many great things in this class and have refreshed my memory of some technologies that I haven't used in a while. I was amazed by all of the technologies (simple and complex) that are available. I'm more than ready to try these out in the classroom!

Good luck to everyone on their finals!

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

For my very first blog post, I wrote about some of the possibilities of using blogs in the classroom. I feel that since this class is coming to an end it would only be appropriate to add to the list. I remember writing the blog thinking my ideas were really good, but after hearing my classmates ideas and seeing classroom blogs, I realized there are so many wonderful ways to use blogs in the classroom!

First off, blogs would be a perfect way to create a classroom news page. The teacher and students could update this page with pictures of the classroom, homework assignments, notes, special events, stories written by the students, and many more! This would allow for parents and even grandparents to stay connected with the classroom.

Another idea for a classroom blog is to use it as a means for writing. There are A LOT of ways this could be done. The teacher could blog a writing prompt and then each students' response could be a comment or could be posted in his/her own blog. Blogging could also be used as a means for storytelling. This would make it very easy for a teacher to hold a peer review session. The teacher could also use blogs for journal writing. If this was done, the teacher would be able to check each journal from anywhere with an Internet connection and she would no longer have to carry around several writing notebooks. There are so many ways in which blogs could be used to for writing activities!

One of my favorite things about blogs is that I could connect with another teacher across the country even across the world and our classes could blog back and forth together in a matter of minutes! Before the Internet, if a teacher wanted to connect with a distant classroom, it could take days by the time the other class got the mail and responded back. Blogs completely changed the way this was done. I would love for my future students to be able to do a project about another country and get the information from students who live in the country. I think the experience would be amazing!

I've always known about blogs, but I never imagined being able to use them in the classroom. I'm glad that we have spent time talking about them, and that I was able to start one! I can honestly say that this is one technology I will try to use in my own classroom.

Web 2.0 tools and Interactive Whiteboards

Before this class, I had no clue what a Web 2.0 tool was or that they even existed. After learning about them, I can honestly say that this is one form of technology that I plan to use quite frequently in my classroom. I was especially impressed with some of the tools my classmates found! If it wasn't for having to study for other classes, I'm pretty sure I would be playing around on these sites. Some of the sites were so user friendly and even better free! It's nice to know that I have this technology at my fingertips and I don't have to pay a lot of money (or any) to use it. I was surprised by how many options were out there. You can create graphic organizers, slideshows, books, movies, classroom twitter pages, drawings, etc; edit pictures; write a story and have someone from across the room even across the country simultaneously add events to the story; etc....I feel that I barely touched on what is possible. I'm really glad that this class introducted me to this type of technology!

Since I have talked about how much I love Web 2.0 tools, I must talk about how much I love interactive whiteboards! I have always known what they were, but I have never had experience with them nor did I know everything that was available to download for them. I loved that you could download pre-made lesson plans and watch a video of how the lesson played out in the classroom. That was such a neat feature. I loved all of the classroom management downloads that were available. I feel things like that would save the teacher so much time! I really hope that the school district I work for has interactive whiteboards. I think I would spend an entire day playing around with all of the features and downloading lessons!

For those of you who have your own classroom or those who have experience these technologies in the classroom, have you seen Web 2.0 tools used in the classroom? If so, what ones and how were they used? Also if you have an interactive whiteboard, what are some of the ways in wich you use it?  I love learning how other teachers incorporate technology!

How Technology Saved My 22 Hour Car Ride

During Thanksgiving break, my family and I went to Florida to go on a cruise, visit Disney World, and see the new Harry Potter Theme Park. Sounds like a lot of fun right? When I first heard our plans, I thought so too then I found out we would be DRIVING to Florida....twenty-two long hours. How would I ever survive? I soon found out the twenty-two hour trip went a lot smoother than I could have ever imagined it to, and I honestly think I have technology to thank for this.

The first time we ever made this drive was when I was in third grade. This was well before the time of iPods, XM Satellite Radio, portable DVD players, GPS tracking devices, etc. We still like to joke about the "portable TV" my parents created for us. This consisted of a small TV with a VCR player and TV shelf strapped to the back of the driver's chair. This took up so much room in the car that no one could sit behind the driver because there was no room for their legs. Anytime we left the vehicle we had to put blankets over this contraption to cover it up. While it did help the drive, it was nothing compared to the technology we had this time around. My sister brought her laptop computer. This allowed us to play games, do homework, watch movies, etc. The best thing was that it hardly took up any room and when we left the truck we could put it under the seat and no one knew it was there!

Technology was definitely on our side for this trip. No more constantly looking at maps, searching for radio stations only to have them go fuzzy a couple hours down the road, and most importantly I could turn on my iPod and tune out my parents music. It's amazing to think about how much technology has changed in fourteen years. For the most part, I was always using some form of technology for entertainment or necessity. I really do believe that is the reason why this road trip went so smoothly.

And in case your wondering....our vacation was amazing! The Harry Potter Theme Park is unbelievable. The creators did a fabulous job of bringing the books to life!

Research Article Number Two: Who Should Teach Keyboarding and When Should It Be Taught?

This blog will be a summary of an article I read entitled "Who Should Teach Keyboarding and When Should It Be Taught?" by Maragret J. Erthal. I wanted to find an article that related to our recent in-class discussions, and I was very please when I stumbled across this article.

The article starts of by stating the classes in which keyboarding used to be taught. Erthal explained that most of the time keyboarding was taught in business classes. During one's freshman and sophomore years, the student would be taught typewriting I and II. The junior year would be spent learning Office Practice and shorthand I, and senior year would be spent learning Secretarial Practice and shorthand II.

The author then goes to explain how the computer completely revolutionized the way keyboarding was taught. Computers allowed students to be more efficient and soon other disciplines started noticing the advantages of using a computer. English and math teachers started requiring the students to use the computer more and more in the classroom. The schools even started a Computer Literacy class. The business teachers thought they were the most qualified to teach this course, but in time math and science teachers thought they were capable of teacher this as well.

Erthal explains that by the 1980s personal computers started making their appearance in elementary classrooms. When these students came to high school, the teachers found that enrollment in keyboarding classes had dropped and students were using the "hunt and peck" method.

From there, the author explains that with the rise in technology teachers must consider when keyboarding should be taught and who should teach it. She discusses some of the requirements of learning and teaching keyboarding. One must have the psychomotor skills that are capable of learning such a skill and there must be a sound pedagogical procedure in teaching keyboarding. Erthal then states some of the advantages of learning keyboarding early on. Those listed include enhanced use of time, effective use of computers, neater finished products, higher motivation, and better developed language skills. With all of this said, when does one begin teaching keyboarding skills?

The author suggested that children between the ages of 10 and 12 should begin learning keyboarding skills. Erthal believes that younger children do not have the dexterity or appropriate hand size to learn keyboarding. At the initial keyboarding stage, the author would like to see children learning the appropriate keyboarding techniques, and once this stage is completed reinforcement activities should take place afterwards to straighten these skills. Erthal suggests that it takes about thirty hours of initial keyboarding practice for children to acquire correct keyboarding techniques. The next question that comes to mind is who should teach this class. The author believes that the person who teaches this course should be very knowledgeable. She does believe that a business teacher can teach this, but that teacher must have know the methodology behind teaching elementary students. Otherwise a teacher who has had training in keyboarding can teach this skill to the students. The author believed that the next thing that must be decided was what software to use. This questions proved more difficult. Erthal stated that many software is good for "drill, remediation, enrichment practice, as well as adding variety to keyboarding instruction", however the software cannot recognize the individual need of the students. Choosing a good software can prove to be very difficult. The author summed up the article by explaining the importance of learning keyboarding skills, and summing up her arguments.

I found this article to be very similar to what we have learned in class. Erthal's age at which she suggested students start keyboarding was very close to the age suggested in our notes. She also agreed that when students first learn keyboarding teachers should spend around thirty hours teaching this skill and reinforce it throughout the years. She also talked about the difficulty in picking out a developmentally good software. I was happy to see another source that matched the beliefs from our class notes.

Keyboarding in the Classroom

Since our last class was devoted to talking about keyboarding in the classroom, I have decided to dedicate this blog to discuss some of my experiences with keyboarding growing up and some of my experiences with it during student teaching.

The first time I remember being taught keyboarding was in fifth grade. We had a class specifically devoted to the subject that met every other day. This class was taught to fifth through eighth graders. We were taught keyboarding through a leveled program. Each individual student would progress through the lessons at his/her own pace. At the end of each lesson, there was a game a to play. We, of course, all worked fast simply to get to the game. I also remember that as we got older we would have timed typing test. I was a decent typist and loved doing this. I don't remember any student being upset because he/she wasn't as fast as a typist as other students, but it very well could have happened. When I compare this program to the notes, it doesn't exactly match the suggested time for successful programs. We spent more than thirty hours on keyboarding the first year, and the following years the time probably stayed the same until eighth grade. I remember that year the class switched from learning the keys to learning how to use word, power point, and excel to create professional products which was very beneficial. We did begin learning keyboarding around the suggested grade level to start. We began in fifth grade, and our notes did suggest third or fourth grade. I don't think the program that we learned to do keyboarding was very successful. It got to be very boring and repetitive. I think my favorite part of keyboarding class was learning about the actual programs. This was a huge help when I went to high school. I do believe that were positive and negative parts of my keyboarding class.

I didn't have much of any experience with keyboarding lessons when I student taught, but I did require the students in my fourth grade placement to make power points. This was a disaster. In terms of keyboarding skills, the students were at so many different levels. I had students finish within two days, and I had students on their first slide on their second day. I ended up pairing students who were finished with their power points with students who were slower at typing. These students would type what the students wanted to say. I didn't want to do it like this, but unfortunately we were on a deadline. I wish I would have talked more with my cooperating teacher to find out how the students were taught keyboarding skills. It's something that I never really thought of to ask about.

After my own experience with learning keyboarding and my experience in the classroom, I realize how beneficial it can be to have students learn these skills earlier. I do think it allows the teacher to be able to incorporate more technology within the classroom and in turn will save time when using technology.

Video Recording in the Classroom

This past week in class we discussed the use of video recording in the classroom. I really like this technology because I believe that there are a lot of possibilities for use in the classroom and I think it's a rather simple technology. After class, I stared to think of some negatives about using video recording in the classroom and how I could make them less negative.

I'm the type of person who loves being in front of the camera. However, I know that not everyone is like this. Some of my students may be very shy and self conscious and not want to be in front of the camera. So how do I go about dealing with this? I think the students could be involved with video projects and not have to be in front of the camera. They could have more responsibility writing scripts, running the camera, or editing the video. There are other options that allow them to still be involved without actually being in front of the camera.

The next problem that I thought about was cost. Let's be honest, I could be in a school that may not be able to afford video cameras. What do I do then? If I wasn't able to afford my own camera to bring in, I could always ask for parent volunteers. The parents could volunteer a couple of different ways. They could either let us borrow their camera and the students could tape or they could come in and tape the students. Both of these also bring up issues. The first option of using parents video recorders is very risky, but just like if my students were using school equipment I would expect them to be extremely careful. The second option doesn't allow for the students to have experience with the technology, but it still allows for the experience of presenting material and for editing. Both options have some downfalls, but it's still better than not having the technology at all.

The last "bump in the road" I thought of was problems with editing on the computer. When we were doing our project for class, we encountered a few problems, but just like with anything other technology you have to be patient and figure out a way around your problem. I don't have a better answer than that. Any technology you use will not always run perfectly, but as a teacher you will have to learn to think on your toes and find a solution to your problem.

I really believe that video recording is a fabulous technology to use in the classroom. My group had so much fun recording our project that I know children will love it as well. These were just a few problems that I could foresee happening, but like any problem there's always a solution to it.